My Cat Bed 我的猫床

Jaiden Deubler 颜丹

Once again， I found myself lying on the edge of my twin-size bed. I feared I might tumble1 over the side and onto the floor below if I so much as breathed. I had done it many times before. I didnt want tonight to be a repeat of all those other nights.

It was only about a two-and-a-half-foot drop. Regardless of the actual height of the bed， it still hurt when I fell. On top of the pain， the loud sound of my body hitting the floor usually told my parents downstairs that I had fallen out of the bed again. As I hung there on the edge， my body tense with the possibility of meeting the hard floor below. I felt those familiar paws2 pushing against my back. It was my cat， Smokey， who was currently taking up the entire bed while leaving just a small sliver3 of space for me.

I always started out in the middle of my bed， but somehow found myself being pushed toward the edge as the night progressed. The evening would start out with my gray companion jumping up onto the bed to curl up beside me. All would be well for a few minutes， but then I would start to feel two small paws push up against my back and shoulders. Naturally， I believed this gesture meant to scoot4 back a little， so I happily gave my furry5 friend some space so that it could sleep more comfortably. That way， it would have its space， and I would have mine.

Then I would feel those paws pushing up against my back again. Had I somehow shifted closer without knowing？ Feeling like a terrible pet owner and friend， I inched closer to the edge of my bed so that my cat would have its space again. This process would repeat until one thing happened—either I fell off the bed and hit the floor， or I got up and moved to the other side of the bed only to repeat the entire cycle.

I have no idea why I shared my warm bed to my cat so willingly. It slept all day anyway. I was the one who needed the rest. However， I was afraid that if I didnt please it， it would move on to one of my brothers rooms. It wouldnt have been so easy for it to take over my brothers beds. They wouldnt have yielded6 to those paws of it as easily as I did. It would have to be content7 with curling up into a ball at their sides if it wanted to stay with one of them. Why do that when it could trick me and take the entire bed for itself？

I recall8 several nights when I just ended up sleeping on the floor and let it have the whole bed to itself.

Well， that was about to stop. No longer was I going to allow myself to be controlled by my cat. It was lucky it even got to lie in bed with me. I could have easily closed my door and let it stay outside my room.

I suddenly realized that maybe Smokey was trying to teach me something by doing this to me every night. Maybe it was trying to teach me to stand up for myself and not let others push me around. It certainly never let anyone push it around or tell it what to do. Perhaps that was why it chose to sleep with me every night. It did it to teach me this important life lesson so that I would be better prepared for the future. That had to be it！ Well， I was certainly going to make this change right now. I was going to stand up for myself， starting with taking back my bed—thump！

我再一次發现自己躺在双人床的床边上。我担心甚至只要我呼吸，就可能会从床边翻下去摔在地板上。我以前摔过很多次。我可不想在今晚让那些夜晚的经历重演。

摔落的高度大约有两英尺半（0.8米左右）。不管床的实际高度如何，我摔下去时还是很疼。而且，我身体撞击地板的巨响通常会告诉楼下的父母，我又从床上摔下来了。当我悬在床边上时，我的身体因与下面坚硬的地板遭遇的可能性而紧张。我感觉到熟悉的爪子在推着我的背。那是我的猫，斯莫科，它现在正占据着整张床，只给我留下一小块空间。

我总是一开始在床中央，但夜渐深，我发现自己不知怎地被推向了床边。夜晚会从我灰色的同伴跳上床并蜷缩在我身边开始。几分钟里一切都好，但之后我会感觉到两个小爪子用力推着我的后背和肩膀。很自然地，我认为这个姿势是要我稍微让开一点，所以我高兴地给了我毛茸茸的朋友一些空间，那样它可以睡得更舒服。这样，它就有了自己的空间，我也有了自己的空间。

然后我会感觉到那些爪子又推到了我的背上。我是不是在没意识到的情况下靠近了它？我感觉自己是个糟糕的宠物主人和朋友，同时慢慢靠近了我的床沿，这样我的猫就会再次拥有它的空间了。这个过程会反反复复，直到发生一件事情——要么我从床上摔到地板上，要么我起来移到床的另一边，重复这整个循环。

不知道为什么我如此心甘情愿地把我温暖的床分享给了我的猫。反正它睡了一整天。而我才是那个需要休息的人。但是，我担心如果我不取悦它，它就会跑到我兄弟们的一个房间去。占领我兄弟们的床对它来说可不容易。他们不会像我那样轻易屈服于它的爪子。如果它想和他们中的一个呆在一起，它就得乐意蜷缩成一个球。为什么它能耍花招把我的整张床都占领了？

我记得有几天晚上，我最后只能睡在地板上，让它独自拥有整张床。

好吧，这种情况就要停下来了。我再也不允许自己被猫操纵了。它很幸运能和我一起躺在床上。我本可以轻易地关上门，让它待在我房间外面。

我突然意识到，也许斯莫科每晚都这样对我，是想教我一些东西。也许它是想教我自己站起来，不要任人摆布。它当然从不让任何人摆布它或告诉它该怎么做。也许这就是它选择每晚和我睡的原因。它这样做是为了给我上一堂重要的人生课，这样我才能更好地为未来做好准备。一定是这样！好吧，我现在一定要做出改变。我要为自己站起来，从夺回我的床开始——砰！

（英语原文选自：www.chickensoup.com）

【Notes】

1. tumble [     ] vi. 摔倒;打滚

2. paw [     ] n. （动物的）爪子

3. sliver [    ] n. 细片;少量

4. scoot [    ] vi. 溜走;快走

5. furry [    ] adj. 毛皮的;毛茸茸的

6. yield [    ] v. 屈服;放弃

7. content [    ] adj. 满意的

8. recall [    ] vt. 回想起，记起